In order to strictly determine fatness, it is desirable to know the quantity of adipose and the intra-bodily distribution of adipose. In diagnosing obesity, assessment of the distribution of adipose is an important requirement.
Many studies have been made regarding the assessment of adipose on a two-dimensional plane by using an X-ray CT apparatus, an MRI apparatus or an ultrasonic apparatus. Non-Patent Document 1 reveals the close relevance of the accumulation of abdominal adipose to diabetes, abnormality in adipose metabolism factors involving risks of arteriosclerosis such as high blood pressure.
Non-Patent Document 1: Nicola Abate, Dennis Burns, Ronald M. Peshock, et al. (1994): Estimation of adipose tissue mass by magnetic resonance imaging: validation against dissection in human cadavers, Journal of Lipid Research 35, Radiological Society of North America: 1490-1496
However, Non-Patent document 1 makes no mention of the correlation between the intra-bodily accumulation of adipose, especially their abdominal accumulation, due to obesity and the probability of the presence, or the probability of incidence, of malignant tumors including cancer.